Weston Ochse's Blog, page 15

GARLIC BUTTER SHRIMP AND QUINOA - A Living Dangerously Recipe

GARLIC BUTTER SHRIMP AND QUINOA: Low country cooking meets high country healthAuthor: Living DangerouslyDuration: 30 minutesAverage Cost: $16.00 USServes: 6 with small salads
Use two kinds of quinoa for added color
Can butter be healthy? Do you mean there's a meal with six tablespoons of butter that's healthy?
Seriously?
Here's the answer- Yes and No. 

The No = If you eat a meal loaded with fats and carbs and then throw in a stick of butter then hells yes it is unhealthy. That much butter, especially on a regular basis is bad for your heart and a big turbo boost to bad cholesterol.  

The Yes = If you eat a light meal with ancient grains and no fat, then a little butter, even a stick of butter won't hurt too bad as long as it's not every night. We're talking once a week or every two weeks. If this is the case then, yest, it can be healthy.

Full disclosure. This is a dish I modified from Taste of Yum. Not that this was the first place I'd seen it. I'd had something like it when I was in the Golden Isles many years ago (Jeckyll Island specifically), but it was served with couscous. When you think about it, this is nothing more than a healthy version of shrimp and grits, a staple of low country cooking.
So why quinoa?  According to authoritynutrition.com, here are the health benefits:
Protein: 8 grams.Fiber: 5 grams.Manganese: 58% of the RDA.Magnesium: 30% of the RDA.Phosphorus: 28% of the RDA.Folate: 19% of the RDA.Copper: 18% of the RDA.Iron: 15% of the RDA.Zinc: 13% of the RDA.Potassium: 9% of the RDA.Over 10% of the RDA for Vitamins B1, B2 and B6.Small amounts of Calcium, B3 (Niacin) and Vitamin E. Sautee low and slow for tendernessThis is coming with a total of 222 calories, with 39 grams of carbs and 4 grams of fat. It also contains a small amount of Omega-3 fatty acids. Quinoa is non-GMO, Gluten Free and usually grown organically. Even though not technically a grain, it still counts as a “whole grain” food (11 Proven Benefits from Quinoa).
So yeah... Quinoa... duh!
I'm also a terrific fan of shrimp. Although deveining is a pain in the back, I always try and get uncooked shrimp because it's the only way to still impart flavor. I cook shrimp really slow which keeps it from getting rubbery. I usually wait until there's about five minutes left in the cooking time for the quinoa before I even fire my pan for the shrimp. Try and find medium to large shrimp. I try and get them to be forefinger-sized.
This is a great recipe for weeknights because it only takes 30 minutes to make. But it's also something to cook and serve with friends over, sitting around and chatting and drinking a nice white wine.

INGREDIENTSI used meyer-lemon olive oil1 tablespoon olive oil½ cup finely chopped onion5 teaspoons minced garlic, divided2 cups uncooked quinoa (1 red & 1 regular)2 teaspoons chili powder1 yellow, red, or orange pepper (not green)4 cups vegetable or chicken broth6 tablespoons salted butter, divided2 pounds raw tail-on shrimpsalt and pepper to tastelime zest for top and juice for shrimpfresh cilantro for servingfresh lemon juice for serving
INSTRUCTIONSHeat the oil in a large nonstick pot over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute until softened, about 3 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons of the garlic and saute for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Add the uncooked quinoa and ½ teaspoon chili powder. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and 1 tsp of chili powder. Saute for another 1 minute to add flavor to the quinoa. Add the broth, bring to a boil, cover and cook for 15-25 minutes (depending on elevation). When the quinoa is done, fluff with a fork and toss with fresh minced parsley. While the quinoa is cooking, heat 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. When the pan is hot and the butter is melted, add the shrimp and sprinkle with the remaining 1 teaspoon chili powder directly in the pan and juice of one lime. Season with salt and pepper and saute until no longer translucent and golden brown on the outside. Just at the end of the saute, add 1 teaspoon garlic and swirl around in the pan until the garlic is very fragrant. Melt the Picture is Too Fuzzy but you get the pointremaining 5 tablespoons butter with the 2 teaspoons garlic to make a sauce for drizzling (for this, crushed garlic or garlic paste would work really well but minced is also fine). Toss finely diced red, yellow, or organge pepper into the quinoa for color and crunch. Serve the quinoa and shrimp together in one dish, with shrimp layered on top, topping with fresh chopped parsley and lemon juice if desired. When the butter is melted and cooled slightly, drizzle over the shrimp and quinoa. Drizzle lime zest over top. Serve immediately, while still hot.

Confession of an Apocalypse Weird Author

COMING OUT OF THE CLOSET-- Yes. I'm an Apocalypse Weird author. This is a phenomenal shared world concept with easter eggs, rabbit holes, and associative media within each novel. One novel -- THE RED KING -- has already dropped and is free. Five more novels are dropping on February 23rd. My novel is in the next wave. This is a shared universe and it's as gritty and weird and apocalyptic as you an imagine. Each novel is like a friend with benefits.

For more information, to sign up for the news letter, and to get a free copy of The Red King, go here  http://apocalypseweird.com/
To sign up for the Facebook Page you can go here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/apocalypseweird

Catcher in the Rye - Is it Still Being Read?

"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know
the truth."

First line of J.D. Salingers Catcher in the Rye.

I read it in the 1970s when I was thirteen, probably the perfect age to read it. We had to buy a copy in a brown paper bag from under the counter of the local Walden Books. It was very influential to me.

I wonder if young boys even read it now?

Or has it lost its relevance.

One thing was for sure-- it was my Hunger Games.

Cormac McCarthy, Ridley Scott, and The Counselor-- Why All The Haters?

Yeah. There are spoilers, but not a lot of them.

I caught this on TV today. I was frankly enthralled. I loved the characters--
Javier Bardeem as a bronzed drug kingpin whose taste in clothes is a cross between Miami Vice and Lady Gaga.Brad Pitt playing an El Paso scoundrel-drug mover, his visage prettied-down with long stringy hair and bruises.Cameron Diaz as an ex-stripper, hypersexual, upward-climbing pantherMichael Fasbender as the philisophical foil for the actionRuben Blades dispensing wisdom and justice like the Angel GabrielParts of the movie I thought were beautiful. Like the conversation about snuff films and Ruben
Blades final scene. I said to myself, 'Who wrote this. It's beautiful.'
Come to find out it was written by Cormac McCarthy so of course it's beautiful.
Only I seem to be the only one thinking this.

A great writer's pompous idea of pulp fiction, treated with stultifying seriousness by everyone else involved. - Guy Lodge of Time Out 

It's filthy, nasty, sexy, absurd, appalling, and exhilarating, and it succeeds as a musky union of novelist Cormac McCarthy's bleakness and Ridley Scott's sense of chic. - Wesley Morris of Grantland 

The Counselor is the cumbersome end product of a high-minded writer trying to slum and a slick director aiming for cosmic depth. - Sam Weisberg of The Village Voice

It's been described as MUMBLECORE. What the fuck is mumblecore? A few clicks later and the internet tells me that it's a real thing.

Mumblecore is a subgenre of independent film characterized by low budget production values and amateur actors, heavily focused on naturalistic dialogue. Filmmakers often assigned to this movement include Andrew Bujalski, Lynn Shelton, Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Aaron Katz, Joe Swanberg, and Ry Russo-Young. The term mumblegore has been used for films mixing mumblecore and horror gore.

There's even a list of Mumblecore Directors and a list of ten essential Mumblecore films.

Seriously? Which is the problem. Critics take themselves too seriously. so seriously they had to crete a term for movies that don't rely on CGI or big budgets or high paying actors, movies where people talk naturally. Shit. I call those movies. Some of them are pretty smart too like Clerks and Bottle Rocket. Wait? One of the Owens brothers is in that film. Does that make it not Mumblecore? Does Quitin Tarantino write Mumblecore. I'm just asking because there's an awful lot of talking in his movies... NATURAL TALKING even.

Back to The Counselor.

Andrew O'Herir of Salon.com literally hates it. I mean he hates it so much he calls it THE WORST MOVIE EVER MADE-- 

There are a couple of decapitations in “The Counselor,” possibly as many as three, along with two shootouts, one of them entirely non-germane to the so-called plot. Oh, and there’s a scene where a woman has sex with a car. We’ll get to that. But the narrative of the film is almost entirely discursive, and largely consists of the Counselor sitting around with his obviously crooked associates —Pitt in a dingy white suit, stringy hair and a black eye; Bardem in hilariously ugly designer duds, accessorized with girly cocktails — having stilted, stylized conversations about women and money and snuff films and the meaning of life that don’t go anywhere. It’s like a mumblecore movie about a bunch of Sarah Lawrence philosophy majors, made by coked-up rich people for 100 bajillion dollars.

And that's a bad thing?

And someone email Mr. O'Herir and let him know that mumblecore movies don't have big budgets or stars or at least according to the definition they don't.

Was the movie stylized? Sure. It's as stylized as a Tarantino film.

Were there long sections where they talked and nothing happened? Sure, like a Tarantino film. But in my opinion all the conversations in The Counselor and Tarantino films are important.

Like Cameron Diaz in the confessional. The priest won't let her confess because she's evil and there is no redemption for pure evil. 

Ruben Blades conversation is characterized as worthless. Check this out--

Rubén Blades, playing some kind of Mexican drug lord. McCarthy really thinks he’s writing up a storm here; the speech goes on and on, signifying nothing beyond sorry dude, you’re screwed. Fassbender, here as throughout the film, stands in for the audience in his blankness, his pigheadedness, his lack of qualities. We were repeatedly told it was a bad idea to watch this movie but we went ahead and did it anyway, and now it can’t be undone. As Blades’ pseudo-Shakespearean soliloquy more or less puts it, whose fault is that?

But it has a purpose. Look at all the other movies out there. Normally, there's a happy ending where the hero wins. The point of this movie, the point against everything Cormac writes, is that you can't win against the very nature of a thing.

Cormac writes about man against nature.The Crossing was a book about man's inability to overcome nature. You can't argue with it. You can't cheat it. You either win or you don't. Blood Meridian was the same way but in this case the Comanches represented nature.  The Road was the same way as The Crossing as was No Country For Old Men, except in an irony, Javier Bardem plays 'nature' as an irrestiable force that cannot be stopped.

It's no difference in The Counselor. It's about man against nature. In this case nature is law/trust. If you break it there's no going back. There's no arguing through it. The justice nature delivers is as immutable and determined and concentrated as the Old Testament. It's fucking black and white with no 50 Shades of Gray.

The only two problems I had with the movie was the title and Penelope Cruz. The title made everyone think this was a movie about a lawyer, which is why I didn't go to see it. Had they changed it, it would have definitely earned out. And Cruz's character was a little flat. The part was necessary, but by casting her, you come to expect more. They could have cast an unknown and had the same effect.

Mumblecore my ass.

The problem is that viewers (especially critics) forgot what Cormac McCarthy writes about. Sometimes there are no happy endings. Sometimes you just can't win. Sometimes you shouldn't do things you know are wrong. Sometimes Bad Shit Happens.

I loved this movie



  .

What's Everyone Cooking for Superbowl Sunday - Chorizo-stuffed Clams and Brie Quesadillas

I'm going to spend the weekend writing and working out. I'm staring down two serious deadlines and need to get the work done. Yvonne is going to be in art classes all weekend as well. So unless our Great Danes sprout opposable thumbs and fix dinner for us, it's going to be a challenge making something tasty and interesting without resorting to ordering out or using the microwave.

Then I saw this link on my Flipboard and read it while sitting in the Pharmacy waiting for my number to be called.


This one jumped out at me. I think I'll save the recipe for later though.Buffalo-style Pork Chops Covered in Cheese.  Yummmmm!


There are seriously lots of great foods here. I've saved the link. We boiled it down to two recipes we'd make -- well, I'd make. She's going to be in class all day so the least I could do is to have these ready for her when she gets home.

The first one is this:

Chorizo-stuffed Clams
The second one is this:

Spicy Brie and Mango QuesadillasI get seafood and Yvonne get's her two favorite food groups: Brie Cheese and Mangos.

These aren't the healthiest choices, but hey! It's Superbowl Sunday. It could be a 3,000 calorie pizza followed by 2,000 calories of chicken wings. What's a little 5,000 calories going to do?  HA! Famous last words.

You can check out the recipes for these and all the other great snacks at the link above.

Now tell me, what are you going to eat?

Kickstarter, Viking Babes, and Machine Guns on Dinosaurs

I've been a big fan of Kickstarter since it launched. The very idea of crowd-funding something warms my heart. Not only does it enfranchise everyone, but it allows for the democratization of ideas.

There have been some truly stupid Kickstarter campaigns that have been funded like the $8,000 dollars raised for a squirrel census, seeing Lionel Ritchies head inflated, or the Grilled Cheesus Sandwich Press that was funded with $25,000 and promises getting the face of Jesus on any of your sandwiches. Wait a minute. Did I just say that seeing Lionel Ritchie's head inflated was stupid? Now that was actually uber cool and the first time a member of the family has had a head bigger than Nicole Ritchie since she partnered with sex-bot heiress Paris Hilton.


Okay. I can get behind that. Peformance art for a dollar? They got my buck.

There are also some terrific projects out there that have never been funded, however. I guess it's all in how you get attention, hold attention, and make someone want to be a part of your campaign. I've contributed to dozens over the years. I've been a part of one or two, most recently the revival of Carpe Noctem. This was a print magazine that I killed back in the day when they actually accepted one of my stories. They accepted and the magazine folded. I did that with a magazine called Bloodsongs too! The folks at Carpe Noctem wanted four grand to fund the 20th Anniversary Edition. They got nearly five grand. Here's the link to that campaign.

Success!!

I recently stumbled across a campaign that I would have thrown some pretty serious money at had I known. Not the $10,000 which put you on screen and in the movie, nor the $4,000 for Thor's hammer... (he says now that it is safely over), but certainly a hundred bucks which is serious money for this goucho.

It's none other than Kung Fury. Have you seen it? An ex-cop goes back in the past to fight Kung Fuhrer (Hitler), goes back to far, and enlists the help of a Viking Babe (aka machine gun-weilding valkrie) and Thor. They wanted $200k and they got more than $600k.

Hell yes they did!



I know. This isn't about saving a puppy, or feeding a family, or raising a herd of cattle for a poor Indonesian family.

I got it.

This is about entertainment.

This is about jumping the shark on everything you've ever known. This looks so bad it looks good and this coming from the guy who thinks that Barry Gordy's The Last Dragon is one of the best martial arts movies ever made - SHO NUFF!!

More importantly King Fury is about Viking babes, Machine Guns on Dinosaurs, Thor in Nazi Germany, and kicking the shit out of a Kung Fu Hitler.

I for one hope that I get to see this. 


Here's the link to their uber-cool kickstarter.

Word has it that it will be released on Youtube for free in March.

Want to keep track of them?  GO here.

You'll thank me later.

Or you can thank me now.

Whatever.

My Best Reads of 2014 - The Shibboleth, Red Rising, Soda Pop Soldier - Plus a Surprise Recommendation

Every year I like to take a moment and call out some great works. As an author, I know how soulless it can be sitting alone and writing and wondering if you're not writing crap. As narcissistic as we are, we are also terribly afraid that we're only an inch deep. So I want these folks to know how good I think they are. I want them to know that they need to keep writing because they're terrific. I'm sure they already know it, but now it's my turn to lend my old raspy voice to the chorus. So in no particular order, here are my top three of 2014.
THE SHIBBOLETH by John Hornor Jacobs. Now Jakes and I go way back. I remember when he hadn't even penned his first work, Southern Gods. So far, everything he writes is gold. So when I had the chance to read the first two books of his new YA trilogy, I leaped at it. This fits nicely in the YA kids with super powers subgenre. But the narratives doesn't rely on the characters strengths. Instead, it relies on their weaknesses. I read this as a 49 year old adult and loved it. You will too.
Here's the starred review from Booklist: *Starred Review* Jacob’s The Twelve-Fingered Boy (2012) was exactly what the teens-with-powers subgenre needed: a full-body beat down that reminded us that having such powers would really, really suck. This hefty sequel follows 16-year-old delinquent Shreve, who can possess people’s bodies, as he shifts from juvenile facility to psych ward to, at last, the Society of Extranaturals, a boot camp of sorts for “post-human” kids run by the highly untrustworthy Mr. Quincrux. Their (supposed) goal: to destroy “the elder” that is causing a nationwide wave of deadly insomnia. This is a dyed-in-the-wool middle book—filled with training, planning, and sinister omens, its chief achievement is to foment excitement for the finale. And in that it succeeds splendidly, courtesy of new friends and new foes, none of whom exist in either camp comfortably. As before, Shreve’s appealing truculence is weighed down by the anguish of sharing the memories of too many damaged people. Jacobs works his ass off here; that’s the best way to put it because you can feel the work, in the best of senses, to make each paragraph a battling push-pull of bruising toughness, electric wit, and dazzling metaphysicality. This fits uncomfortably in every box in which you’d try to put it—in other words, it’s totally unique. Grades 9-12. --Daniel Kraus --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
RED RISING by Pierce Brown. When I saw the cover, I thought to myself, oh, another book about angels, and I passed it by. Not that I dislike angels, I just wasn't in the mood for angelic-inspired-starring fiction. But when I asked Pat Heffernan at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in San Diego what the best book he'd read recently, he pointed to that one. So I bought it sight unseen. I picked it up the next morning and finished it that night. It's not about angels. It's a far future story about caste systems, bio genetics, and intergalactic posturing. What's stunningly unfair is that it's Pierce's first book. Worse yet he's a good looking and likable guy, so I can't even hate him for his incredible success. Instead, I'm super happy for him and hope that he has a long successful career. 
Again I'll  let Booklist tell you what they think: A lot happens in this first installment of a projected trilogy. Darrow, living in a mining colony on Mars, sees his wife executed by the government, nearly dies himself, is rescued by the underground revolutionary group known as Sons of Ares, learns his government has been lying to him (and to everybody else), and is recruited to infiltrate the inner circle of society and help to bring it down from within—and that’s all inside the first 100 pages. This is a very ambitious novel, with a fully realized society (class structure is organized by color: Darrow is a Red, a worker, a member of the lower class) and a cast of well-drawn characters. Although it should appeal to all age groups, there is a definite YA hook: despite being a veteran miner and a married man, Darrow is 16 when the novel begins. If told well, stories of oppression and rebellion have a built-in audience, and this one is told very well indeed. A natural for Hunger Games fans of all ages. --David Pitt --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
SODA POP SOLDIER by Nick Cole. This is a truly awesome book. I actually reviewed it on my site, which I rarely do. But I was so engrossed in the book and loved it so much, I just had to say something. Here's what I said. 
Nick Cole's new Soda Pop Soldier is as different from The Wasteland Saga as Skyrim is to Donkey Kong. Not that The Wasteland Saga is as emotionally bankrupt as Donkey Kong. It's not. And it's awesome. It's just so different it seems as if someone else wrote it. In a way, it was. It's clear that John Saxon wrote this book while Nick Cole wrote the other one--John Saxon being both an actor who starred in Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon as well as being the nom de guerre of the main character of Soda Pop Soldier.  And Nick Cole can level up with 10,000 cool points for channeling the great unsung pop-culture icon of the 1970s.

The great great grandchild of Neuromancer (Gibson), Soda Pop Soldier shares its inventiveness, themes of moral bankruptcy and greed, and isolationism with it's siblings Reamde (Stephenson) and Ready Player One (Cline). But it achieves more. I'm not sure if John Saxon used these as stepping stones, or came up with the premise whole cloth in the vacuum of his shag-carpeted, spinning disco ball, scotch soaked mind, but whatever +5 Potion of Inventiveness he sucked down, it worked. To read the rest of the review, you can go here.

OUR LOVE WILL GO THE WAY OF THE SALMON. I know I said my top three, but I think one more shout out is necessay. There's a guy living in the Pacific Northwest I want to give some literary love to... a fellow authorly high five and a backslap. His name is Cameron Piarce. I was able to pre-read Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon before publication. Cameron sharpened his blade on the bizzaro grindstone, so I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. As many of you know, bizarro fiction can take you to places you've never gone, never thought of going, and in some cases, never ever EVER want to go again (much love Carlton!). There's a hint if bizarro in this collection of short stories. But the stories also contain a literary sensibility that I appreciate. The writing is as lean and spare as Raymond Carver, who described his own style as "inclined toward brevity and intensity." I loved this book. I'd like to see more of Cameron's fiction. In fact, and I told this to Cameron, I'd like to see the first story wholly fleshed out and made into a novel. I want to visit that world again and not just with the tip of my toe. I want to swan dive into Desolation Lake so I can swim with the memories of when there were Salmon.
I actually blurbed this book. Here's what I said: "Part Terry Bisson, part Cormac McCarthy, part rocket launcher--Pierce's Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon brilliantly uses the fishing prism to examine loss, living without, and never having had."
You can order these books from Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore at this link

Elitest Book Review Selects Grunt Life One of 2014s Best

Grunt Life was reviewed by Elitist Book Reviews (Steve Diamond) back in August. Here's a link to that review. Bottom line is that they liked it--liked it so much that in a recent interview they chose it as one of the best books of 2014 according to an interview with Stuart Charles Flynn at scflynn.com!
'Ochse has an excellent narrative voice. Line to line, paragraph to paragraph, page to page. It’s all extremely smooth. I never had to go back and reread a section for clarity—though I did reread sections because of how much I enjoyed a turn of phrase, or a character moment. The action—and there is a TON of it—is super clear and effortless to follow.' -Elitist Book Review of Grunt Life
'Weston Ochse is an awesome author. I put his stuff next to Correia and Maberry without hesitation. While I was curious about Ochse’s work before, now I’m excited to read it. All of it. It's pretty easy to see that Ochse is one of the better authors for action SF out there, and GRUNT LIFE was an absolute blast to read.' - Elitist Book Review of Grunt Life
They also selected Grunt Traitor - sequel to Grunt Life - as one of their most anticipated books of 2015. This is the first mention of Grunt Traitor in the wild and most welcome. 
You can read all about Steve Diamond, Elitest Book Reviews, and their other picks at this link. Looks like I'm in terrific company with Joe Lansdale, Brandon Sanderson, Jim Butcher, Larry Correia, Sarah Pinborough, Robert McCammon and others.
Very humble. Thank you Elitist Book Reviews. Solaris Books is going to be extremely happy about this.

Eating, Restraint, and the Best Thing I Cooked in 2014

I've been slacking. There are a bunch of blog posts I've been wanting to make--I actually have a list of them-- but I've been sick on and off for a month and deep in the nightmare realm of writing deadlines and edits. I know it's a terrible excuse, but it's all I got, so it will have to do. 
As many of you know, I take a lot of food pictures and do a lot of cooking. I even host a FB group called Taste of Sierra Vista highlighting the foods of the town and region in which I live. I'm not doing it to show off. I'm also not doing it to brag about my mad cooking skills because as a chef I am a complete work in progress. I cook like I live life, two steps forward and one step backward. No, I write and blog about food on the occasion because I once weighed sixty pounds more than I do now. I got that way by eating crap. And a lot of crap. Basically, I'd shove down my big fat maw anything that tasted good. I was like a kitchen krakon, eating anything you'd offered me.
But no more.
That was then. This is now.
If it's something loaded with calories, then it better be damn good and special. I need to be convinced to expend the calories and it has to be a rare occasion.
For instance, if I'm going to have a burger, I'm not going to go to a  fast food restaurant. I'm going to APE Burger - Brie, Bacon and Apple Burgerexpend those calories on the best burger I can think of-- best burger available. I'm not going to do it often, but when I do, it's going to be the best ingredients, cooked the best possible way, and in the coolest place. For instance, my go-to burger spot is a place called The Cafe in Sonoita, Arizona and run by Chef Adam Puckle. They have the APE Burger (APE-Adam Puckle Experience). It's a half pound of either farm-raised beef or bison, prepared your way, with his choice of toppings. It's mad good and an experience to boot. So when I said it needs to be special, THAT'S what I'm talking about.
By the way, I wrote about this burger place back in September in an article called Burgers with Chefitude. You can find that here.
Don't get me wrong. I expend calories for food all the time, but most of the time it's pretty healthy. For instance, last night I cooked Miso Glazed Cod over Steamed Cabbage and Basil with a sesame, mirin, and lemon vinaigrette, with quick pickled cucumbers in matcha mirin. It was pretty freaking awesome. But I'd be surprised if the entire plate was more than six hundred calories. It was light, it was filling, and it was sumptious and it's something I'd definitely cook again. (I can provide the recipe to anyone who asks.)
So driving into work today, I listened to a Mimi Sheraton being interviewed about her book 1000 Foods to Eat Before You Die. You can listen to it here if you want. It got me to thinking what was the best thing I ate last year. I was surprised to say that it was probably the Razor Clams I had in Portland back in May. Razor clams are one of my new favorite foods. I'd move to Oregon if I could have them everyday. THAT's how much I love them.
Then I asked myself what about all the food you cooked--which recipe do you like the best? It came to me right away. There was a simplicity to this dish, but there was also a depth and combination of flavor that I loved. This wasn't my wife's favorite dish by far. I think she'd say the Pacific Lobster Tails or Penne Con Ragu di Mortadella, which is a dish I love that I stole from Chef Michael White, which is his go to dish when he's hungry late at night. 
No, this is merely my favorite and I'll share it with you here.
Let me start by saying that this isn't my recipe. Sometimes I make up my own recipes based on ingredients available and the taste I want to cultivate. Other times I look at a recipe and tweak it, making it my own. In this case, I followed someone else's recipe-- Master Chef Geoffrey Zakarian. 
The Recipe is -- Orecchiette with Shrimp, Pancetta and Fresno Chiles
Orrechiette is sort of the perfect pasta. It means small ear in Italian and is the perfect pouch for containing small ingredients. I want to use it more. In fact, in 2015 I WILL use it more (You didn't see it, but I just pinky swore to myself).
I'm not going to rewrite the recipe. You can find it here. You should try it. It's awesome. Truly.
I'd be curious to see if you'd make it and then get your opinion. Please share it here if you do.
I'm also curious to know of all the things you cooked last year which is your favorite. I'd like to know.
Now back to writing and editing. So many ideas, so many works in progress, so much glorious life to live and so little time.
Ciao!

Christmas Dinner 2014 - or what to do with two turkeys, 33 Onions and a pound of Chorizo

My mom and dad live in Tucson and we always flip flop who does Christmas Dinner and who does Thanksgiving Dinner. They had Thanksgiving this year, so Christmas is on me and Yvonne. Sometimes we make a huge turkey. Sometimes we make ham. Sometimes we have a turkey and a ham. My mom's a fan of having a turkey and a goose, but for some reason I'm never fond of the goose. One year we had a standing rib roast. It was awesome, but we discovered that we didn't then have any turkey meat for Christmas sandwiches for which my wife is famous for and one of the reasons I was tricked into marrying her.
This year we're going to have two small turkeys. How'd I come to that decision? Well, after Christmas and Thanksgiving I usually go out and buy hams and turkeys the stores put at ultra-cheap prices, trying to get rid of them before they go bad. We have a full size upright freezer that is packed with food. We decided this summer that we need to start eating some of the food from it instead of our normal store and forget policy. So I noticed that I'd bought a small 12 pound turkey last year after Christmas. Well, 12 pounds is about enough to feed my nephew and too small for six people and the planned leftovers we're looking forward to.
Then it came to me. Let's have two small turkeys!
So we're having two small turkeys. One is going to be traditional, probably with rosemary and lemon flavors. The other is going to be southwestern so I think I'm going to baste it in chipotle butter.
The cool thing about the way I cook turkeys is that it only takes about 90 minutes. You see, I crank the oven up to 500 and they cook very quickly. They still stay moist and their skin is nice and crispy. I think it was in the food network magazine or one of those that detailed exactly how to do it. I've been using it now for 5 years and it has worked perfectly every time. If anyone needs me to, I could probably make a copy of the pages from the magazine that provide this magical advice.
I also cook the dressing(s) at least a day ahead. Not only does it make things easier the morning of, but it gives me time to warm them up while the meat is resting and I am carving. One of my staple dressings is a Southwest Cornbread and Chorizo Dressing with Butternut Squash and Fennel. Not only is it good with turkey, but it makes an amazing breakfast hash. I've been known to make it throughout the year, just so I can have some of the hash. Incidentally, I got the dressing out of a November 2005 Sunset Magazine where it won the Best Dressing Contest. A lady named Victoria Johnson really needs the credit for this. It was her recipe.
The other dressing is going to be more traditional. It's a sausage and rye dressing, made from scratch, of course. I'll make these the day before which will allow for  time for cooking other things and won't make the morning such a rush. We traditionally have dinner at 2 PM and open presents at about 11 AM, so we need the time.
The only other thing I'll make a day ahead is the little amuse bouche I like to make. It's a very small portion of cold coconut and corn soup that awakens the tastebuds and gets them ready to disco through dinner. I like to have this waiting in the middle of everyone's plates to start the meal.
So, enough blathering. One important point before the list, though. You see, I'm very thankful for being able to put out a spread like this. There were many times growing up where we were so poor we only ate pancakes for every meal for weeks at a time. There were many holidays in the military where I had to get a turkey and fixings from the Chaplain, which is something that still goes on in the military. So I appreciate now being able to afford such fare... much of it thanks to my fans.
Christmas Dinner 2014
Deviled EggsCorn & Coconut SoupWhite Cheddar Cheese Marinated in HoneyCranberry Sauce2 Young Turkeys (one traditional and one southwestern)Southwest Cornbread and Chorizo Dressing with Butternut Squash and FennelSausage and Rye DressingLumpy Mashed PotatoesGravyBrussel Sprout SlawRoasted Onions with LemonKings Hawaiian Dinner RollsOrange CakeVanilla Ice Cream with Pistachios and Thyme Yvonne makes a great Christmas Sandwich with turkey, cranberry sauce, dressing, and cream cheese on white Italian bread. I'm almost looking forward to that more than the big meal.
And of course there will be drinkage. 
Probably lots and lots of wine.
I hope everyone has a terrific Christmas. 
I'll snap food porn for you all later.
Now it's off to a Christmas Party.
Laters.